justin R

100% Support from XploreAsia & Michael Volpe

Teaching in Thailand was on my horizon, and nothing was going to stop me. I had made the decision to quit my job, leave America, and take the leap across the globe to finally try and put my English degree to good use. The only problem was, I had no idea how to land a job teaching in Thailand. My uncle had taught abroad in Spain for 10 years, and when I asked him for his best tidbit of advice, he said “Get a TESOL degree.” My uncle had an English degree, but told me that for his first year in Spain he had no idea what he was doing, and that if he had to do it over again, having a TESOL would have made his life much easier. So then came the task of narrowing down a TESOL program. Fast forward through endless days of research, and I am boarding the plane to Thailand, putting all of my faith into a company called XploreAsia. Before I had even left America I Skype-contacted Michael Volpe, the Managing Director of XploreAsia, and he was more than accommodating to my spree of anxious questions and worries. Then from the minute I landed in Thailand, XploreAsia was there to help me out. Not only did they have someone pick me up at the airport, but they also helped me check into accommodations, find daily transport, show me where to shop for daily conveniences, and they also helped me set up a Thai phone number. Aside from the endless support they gave me outside of the classroom, the TESOL classes really provided a lot of insight and technique to prepare me for teaching in the field. Jaco Kleinloog was my TESOL instructor, and he went above and beyond giving feedback, tailored assignments, and invidivudual attention to every member of the class to make sure they were prepared for the Thai classroom. After the TESOL classes I actually got some hands-on experience by getting to volunteer at a local Thai school English camp for two days. This was an invaluable experience because I really felt that I got a preview of what my job would be like before I headed off to my actual school. Throughout the course I also took part in some amazing Thai cultural excursions like a Muay Thai session, and a trip to a beautiful local temple. I also sat in on several informative and highly beneficial culture talks. After XploreAsia placed me in a paying teaching position in northeastern Thailand, Michael Volpe personally reached out to me to make sure I was still having a good experience in Thailand. All I could say was how much I really appreciated the level of care that XploreAsia had gone through to make sure that I was successful here in this new foreign land. XploreAsia is a company that I cannot recommend high enough. They really helped me in every way they could. The TESOL program was a lot of work, but all the work I put in really helped prepare me for a successful life in Thailand.